Monday, 2 June 2008

Representation

Nick Robinson has neatly summarised the main reasons Gordon shouldn't be fighting so hard to get 42 days detention:

there was no consensus for change (he met Liberty's Shami Chakrabati twice in one day in order to find a deal);

that he faced parliamentary defeat;

that the Director of Public Prosecutions, the former Attorney General and former Justice Secretary did not support the need for change;

that MI5 would not back his arguments either privately or publicly - the spooks have let it be known that they are "neutral" on the issue; and

that many of his own ministers - not least the man he brought into government to deal with terrorism, Lord West - had had real doubts about whether this was the right priority.

I have no gripe that he has listed the political reasons over the practical, that is after all his job.

I will be watching to see what my current MP, Angela Smith does, I suspect given that she voted for 90 days she will vote for 42. I would see this as a solid reason to vote against her next time, along with her strong support for introducing ID cards, voting against an investigation into the Iraq war and a transparent Parliament. But this isn't an issue, I won't be voting for or against her next time round, there has been Boundary Commission changes since then, next time round the Labour candidate will be a man for whom I respect his tenacity and ambition I revile his standpoints on many issues. David Blunkett is a man who has been caught on the fiddle and consistently promotes authoritarian policies whilst being paid by a company that will profit from them. I severely doubt it, but I really hope that there is some way of getting rid of him at the next election.